Reader Submitted Photo: Answers To Tough Questions

Given that title one would imagine a work of Fundies Guide To The Galaxy proportions, but a quick look at the back cover reveals that the only answers Gipp is providing are to a strangely eclectic group of questions about the King James Version.

Looking at the bright side, at least Sam has decided to tackle some questions that are worthy of him and leave the discussion of the actual text to others.

Fundies are awful proud of their degree mill qualifications – in this case, putting Dr. before his name AND Th.D after it. Overcompensating, perhaps? Most scholars (Stephen Hawking, Daniel Wallace, Bart Ehrman, etc etc) don’t flaunt their degrees like that at all, and they’ve earned them from real schools!

“Fake scholars” never used to bother me until I spent 4 years staying up late, struggling to make rent, and losing hair (but gaining weight) to get my Master of Divinity. By the way its a full 96-unit MDiv, not one of those 68-76 unit ones I’m seeing schools advertise now!

Mike,
Could not agree more!! I was an active member of our local Baptist ministerial association at a previous command, and there was a pastor there who would always remind us of his “Dr” status. I looked up where his MDiv and Doctor of Theology had come from and it was some diploma mill Bible College. I lost any respect I ever had for him after that.

I also agree with the 96 hour M-Div. At Southeastern, they increased the M-Div from somewhere in the 75-80 range to 96 shortly before I started Seminary, but I don’t regret the extra work.

You are at Southeastern? That is good, but I’m speaking as a Southern Baptist. I would like to go to one of the six seminaries after I graduate from college (December 2013/May 2014). I know that the closest one from home is in Louisville, and that is about 2 hours away.

I graduated from Southeastern Seminary in 2004 before becoming a Navy Chaplain (Southern Baptist endorsed). I would highly recommend it, but I love Southern as well. I could travel to Southeastern without moving to a different state.

Ok, thanks for the reply. By the way, to the people on here that aren’t Southern Baptist, when I say one of the six, I’m referring to one of the seminaries affiliated with the Southern Baptist Covention (Southern, Southeastern, Southwestern, Midwestern, New Orleans, and Golden Gate). However, I still have a little while to go (I thought I would be graduating next year, then push back a year, then I transferred, so push back another semester on that).

Our former SBC pastor’s stationery stated “Rev. Dr. First Middle Last.” PUKE PUKE PUKE He is the biggest hick ever. Always wore wrinkled clothes, and safety pinned the cuffs of his pants where they wore through b/c they dragged on the ground at the back!

When I went to a Methodist church, the pastor there earned his doctorate. He got in the pulpit and said “Now everyone repeat after me: “Good morning, Dr. Bickerton!”” Once everyone had, he said “Good, now everyone’s got it out of their system. My name is Tom.”

Add David Platt to the list of people who don’t need to flaunt their degrees (or at least, I’ve never heard him call himself “Dr.”). He has a Ph.D. from NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) in 2004, which has been accredited since 1965 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. I don’t have that many books of other living Southern Baptists (and I want to point out Baptists with real Doctorate degrees, but don’t flaunt them), so if anyone wants to add to the list, that would be great.

It’s not just a characteristic of fundies, actually. Most ministers who attain a doctorate — whether earned or honorary — love to tout themselves as “Doctor.” I’ve known only one man who didn’t. He wore his doctoral robe, which was a gift from his church, but never insisted on using the title. I admired him for that. He later wound up, ironically, as president of a major seminary — and never did attain an earned doctorate.

Thank goodness!! I’ve been lying awake at night, wringing my hands, wondering if King James could possibly have been a homosexual! Now I can finally have my answer!! Thanks, Sam Gipp! That’s JUST the kind of answers a “Helpbook” for Christians needs! Good thing you didn’t waste time talking about nonsense like loving your neighbor or anything…
🙄 😀

I started looking around, and a few clues belie Sam Gipp’s true character.

He is the pastor of Bible Believers Baptist Church, which is located on 660 Constitution Avenue. His full first name consists of six letters. Add the number of his address and the number of letters in his first name, and what do we have?

I am in suspense here. When are the answers to these questions going to be posted? It is not very kind to raise these thought-provoking conundrums without providing the answers. 😉 😉 😉
My curiosity has been piqued further by knowing that there are over 60 questions answered in this book! I would venture that every subject a person could think of is covered in the book-from the KJV to mixed bathing. 🙄

“QUESTION #55:
“Shouldn’t we emphasize love for Jesus Christ rather than squabbling over Bible translations?

“ANSWER:
“There is no better way to emphasize our love for Jesus Christ than to jealously and zealously guard His word.”

Jesus doesn’t care if we love our neighbors as long as we use the correct Bible translation. 🙄
That’s not my snide comment, that’s what Gipp says in the rest of that section. Read it if you will. That’s as much of it as I can stand to quote.

I just read his passover explanation and speaking as a Jew (and therefore someone who actually celebrates the holiday rather than observing it from afar), we call the whole thing Passover and never once have I heard anyone refer to, “the days of unleavened bread,” as something distinct from Pesach.

Then again, explaining to Jews what our religion really means (hint: it’s all about us helping the Rapture happen, regardless of what we want) is another thing fundies seem to like…

Pesach and Passover are the same thing; I use them interchangeably depending on the degree of ethnicity I’m feeling in the moment. Sometimes I just slip into Hebrew y’know…

Ok rarely, and pretty much only in calling Passover Pesach. 🙂

But yeah, if you’re in a synagogue and reference, “days of unleavened bread,” people would just think you’re coming up with a more clever way of saying, “Passover,” not that you’re referring to days 2-8 (but not 1) of the holiday.

I am not Jewish but I have read a lot about the Jewish faith. I spent several years reading in depth. It really illuminated many parts of Scripture for me. In my experience, when Baptist preachers refer to Judaism they generally fall into three categories: 1. Wrong. 2. Very wrong. 3. Just plain making stuff up.

If a person feels the need to defend the translation ‘Easter’ instead of Passover’ for the word that is translated ‘Passover’ in every other place in which it appears, that person is a King James Onlyist by definition. Why? Because the defence means that you are arguing for a distinction in English that does not exist in the Greek!

W.E. – One of my hobbies since retiring in 2009 is studying all about bible translations. I am amazed by Gipp’s strenous twists and turns to try and make Easter “work.” There is a video of him speaking to a congregation, and if memory serves, he goes on for more than an hour trying to make Easter fit.

“Arguing for a distinction in English that does not exist in the Greek'” You are precisely correct, and I plan on using that. 😀

I’d never heard the Easter/Passover “controversy”, have heard KJVO idiots arguing for the importance of “Lucifer” which doesn’t exist, and wasn’t an English Word till they transliterated it for the KJV.

“Looking at the bright side, at least Sam has decided to tackle some questions that are worthy of him and leave the discussion of the actual text to others.”

Lol. I know I’ve said this here before, but the whole fundy thing about the KJV and the TR is make-believe. When I see stuff like this it conjures images of Chris Farley trying to convince the world that Lady Elaine Fairchild is the Dutchess of York. //random//

A dearly loved relative just told me that it’s foolish to translate the Bible into more understandable English, because if you’re saved, God’s Spirit will illumine the Word, and if you’re not saved, why bother making it easy to understand since they’ll never truly understand it without the Spirit?

I honestly (I do) want to know how this man truly feels like this book will be a “help to the young Christian”
What of grace?
What of the heart of God?
Since when does a young Christian need to be indoctinated with such earth shattering foundational truths such as “Was King James a homosexual?”
This stuff is how you mess up people for life…and why I am trying to sort through all the garbage 20 years later. 😥

You must read the “Deadly Myths You [sic] Been Told.” These DEADLY myths include “Your body is done growing by the time you’re 21” and “Sugar Makes Kids ‘Hyper'”. http://samgipp.com/essays/?page=76.htm

On the same page, he says the KJV was good enough for Luke. I guess it’s fair to say that Paul and Luke could perform miracles, but it takes a lot of imagination to say that they read a translation that wasn’t written yet in a language that wouldn’t exist (in its Jacobean form) for another 1500 years.

I loved Gipp’s answer to whether or not the KJV translators were “baby sprinklers” or not:

“The company of men who did the translating of the Authorized Version was made up of Bible believing men from both the Anglican and Puritan churches. Their character and qualifications have been attested earlier.

Such a statement as, “The King James translators were nothing but a bunch of Episcopalian baby sprinklers,” is one of those statements which is sadly not based on fact nor conviction. It is made with the hope of character assassination and an ultimate hope of overthrowing the authority of the King James Bible in the minds of believers.

It might be beneficial at this point to note what the King James translators were NOT.

They were not adulterers, as David. Nor were they murderers as Moses and David. Nor had any of them sacrificed any of their children to Chemosh or Molech as Solomon had in I Kings 11. Nor had they vehemently denied the Lord as Peter.

These short comings are not pointed out to bring disrespect on any of the writers of scripture. But are noted so that we should be a little more gracious in our description of the men whom God has chosen to use.”

The explanation avoids the question. This last paragraph about being a “little more gracious” is sheer hypocrisy! Oh, like the KJV nuts are so gracious to the translators of the NIV! Give me a break! 🙄

Wish a question about whether the Puritans were wrong in not immediately switching from the Geneva Bible to the KJV was included.

Also, while the jury’s still out (as far as I know) with King James’ sexuality, has any KJVO proponent dealt with the issue of his opposition to the Puritans’ effort to purify the Church of England from Catholic influence (which led, after a stop in Holland, to their arrival at Plymouth Rock)?

Head……hurts…… He appears to think that Passover is/was celebrated in the Roman(Julian)/Gregorian calendar on April 14th every year. And apparently Herod was an Astarte worshipper, since all pagans….urgh….*twitch*
Who linked the book? WHO LINKED THE BOOK? 😯

QUESTION #61:
What if there really ARE mistakes in the King James Bible?

ANSWER:
Then it’s up to YOU to find the Book that God was talking about in Psalm 12:6,7 and Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24:35.

And of those that take his challenge:

“The FACT is, that, like their hippie counterparts of the late 1960’s they find themselves standing on a pile of smoldering ruins, without any ability whatsoever to rebuild even an outhouse, let alone render a perfect Bible. ”

QUESTION #7:
If there is a perfect Bible in English, doesn’t there also have to be a perfect Bible in French, and German, and Japanese, etc?

QUESTION No.
God has always given His word to one people in one language to do one job; convert the world. The supposition that there must be a perfect translation in every language is erroneous and inconsistent with God’s proven practice.

“Thus in choosing English in which to combine His two Testaments, God chose the only language which the world would know.”

“The English language had been developing for many centuries until the late sixteenth century. About that time it finally reached a state of excellence that no language on earth has ever attained. It would seem that God did the rest. He chose this perfect language for the consummation of his perfect Book.”

Because I hate myself, I started reading the first one. Then I got to this:
“When Christianity entered Europe centuries ago it displaced tribalism with nationalism and developed what is known today as “European Society,” which left feudalism behind and spawned modern civilization. Suddenly, Satan, who had been worshipped through paganism was dethroned and replaced by the God of creation. It was devastating to his plan of world rule. But, Europe could go no further when it ran into residual paganism so God crossed the Atlantic and, as he had developed the nation of Israel within Egypt, developed an entirely new nation in the wilderness of America. Because of these two protected developments Israel and the United States are the only two nations in the world that have no pagan history.”

There are so many things wrong with this paragraph. Starting with the “Suddenly” that was really (at least where feudalism was concerned) more like 1700 years or so, and ending the complete and utter ignoring of historical fact. I’m not sure I can read through the rest…but I probably will because I hate myself. hahaha

“Men: wear a dress shirt and tie. That’s right, a tie, even if it’s just a clip-on. God is more important than you! Dress up for Him…because you are going to the place that God may meet with you and you should humble yourself and dress so you won’t be embarrassed if He shows up.”

I do believe God is more important than me. That’s why I want to do what the Bible says, not Gipp.

Check out this quote by A.B. Bruce re: “commandments of men”:

“To treat trifles as serious matters, as matters of conscience, which you do, is degrading and demoralizing. No man can do that without being or becoming a moral imbecil, or a hypocrite: either one who is incapable of discerning between what is vital and what is not in morals, or one who finds his interest in getting trifles to be accepted as the important matters, and the truly great things of the law – justice, mercy, and faith – quietly pushed aside as if they were of no moment whatever.” [The Training of the Twelve, p.83]

I’m all for dressing up nicer for church that I do on other days (my new church is pretty casual, so there are Sundays when I show up in whatever if I don’t feel like dressing up)… but Gipp makes it sound like you have to do it or God will strike you down with a lightning bolt.

Yes! The fundie attitude is that of a religious junkie. Always looking for the next experience, the next emotional warm holy-fuzzy. Their fix to get them to the next service. Looing for the movement of God so that thy know they are in his will. Step on their toes, stomp on their toes, just so they can feel something! Anything!

Then there is the ultimate high… The Revival. Oh, how God moved! And when they come down off their emotional high then they look for why God stopped moving, why they no longer feel it. It must be something they did, or didn’t do, or there’s sin in the camp! Then they cry and wail pleading God to move again. Dance you little god, dance for us. Perform another mirace, give us an experience!

And the pulpit master feeds on their need for the experience. So the cult marches on, and the religious junkies get their fix and feel so smug in their churchianity.

Every time I wonder if I’m being a backslidden rebel that needs to git raght with GAWD hay-men I hear Sam Gipp and his like, and grow all the more convinced emigrating from fundy land was a good move. I’ve known many a good fundamentalist that has helped me in some spiritual way or another, but… the movement isn’t for me, least of all the extreme aspects of it that Gipp too often exemplifies. The hyper-aggressive culture wars and patriotism that verge on bigotry and racism, the legalism (culottes, fellow ex-IFB ladies? :???:), and the incessant emphasis on personal fervor is horribly deadening.

Give me Christ and him crucified. If Gipp could focus on that instead of his personal anecdotes and marketing for his dissertations and bumper stickers (both from the pulpit, last time he was at my church >_<), then he would be a preacher. Otherwise he's merely another panderer for the dark side of fundamentalism.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be reading from Martin Luther, Thomas Merton, C.S. Lewis, and Michael Spencer–heretic that I am.

I still sometimes feel guilty because nearly everyone I know are still in IFB churches, so what’s wrong with ME that I wanted to leave. But, yeah, stuff like this kind of book makes me so, so glad I’m not part of it. I too want only Christ, and I want His love to characterize my life.

…because of all the theological questions young Christians might be struggling with, clearly these are the most important.

I actually had never heard of the possibility that King James was a homosexual before, but now that I do… so? He didn’t have anything to do with the actual translation of the Bible, aside from possible political influence.

Jordan beat me to part of this, but…as if the content weren’t bad enough (and of course, it is), the underlined book titles (each word separately no less!) and using “a help” (instead of just saying, “This book will help…”) instantly decreases the person’s credibility in my mind. ‘Course, maybe that’s just me being the typography and language geek that I am. 😀

Hey – I just met the good Dr Gipp. He showed up to do a series of meetings here in Dorset last week. He had a plastic cup with his name on ‘Dr Gipp’ I have the photo to prove it. I asked his wife where she did his doctorate and she said something with ‘Tenessee’ in the name.
I’ve met a couple of other academic Drs lately through a course I’ve been doing but they didn’t have plastic cups with ‘Dr’ on. But then they were only Oxford Drs..